The Many Colors of Monochrome
by Mundane Matthew
Summary: The world is black and white to Lightning. Full of anger, and hatred, she doesn't understand how it could be any other way. But one girl could change everything, and show her the colors of monochrome.   Yuri. Mature Content. Problem?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys~ :D Got something new for you to enjoy or hate. I know I was gone for ages, but if you read my profile.. thingy. You know it was NaNoWriMo in November, and I was busy and going insane.. and for the past week or so have been just chilling at home to recover. I know i've got more to add to and should not be writing new stuff but, oh well~ **

**Some of you may recall I tried, and I stress tried, to write a yuri of FF13 a while back. I hated it. hah. so why am I trying again? CAUSE I CAN. **

**So this one is Lightning x Vanille. It's AU. AU AU AU AU. So , my excuse to get away with not following the storyline cause I don't know it still. Yayyyy! **

**Sorry it's such a short starter, but my brain is only just getting back to work after nano and such. See ya!**

******- Matty**

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><p>There was no moment of hesitation between swings of the blade, not a second. There was no remorse or mercy, and not a flinch when the steel sliced through flesh. Lightning's only care was that the blood splattered, and she could feel warm drops sliding down her cheek. She drew her hand across her face and smeared it as the last of the enemies fell to the ground, choking on his own blood. She frowned and stepped over him, settling the tip of her blade against his chest.<p>

"It's funny.. I was under the impression that you were intelligent. I was actually looking forward to a good fight, some competition. However I was mistaken. You are all just a bunch of sad, pathetic boys." she said, digging it into his skin, spilling more blood onto the ground, revelling in his gurgled cries of pain.

Her gaze lifted up to the man a few yards aways, whose arm was firmly around the shoulders of a thin girl. He had a knife to her throat, and didn't seem phased at the death all around, strange, considering they were under his command. He smirked at her, like a challenge, and jerked the girl's head over to the side, licking the side of her face as he tangled rough fingers in her auburn hair.

Lightning dug her fingers into the hilt of her sword, and shoved the blade straight through the soldier's chest, silencing him.

The man let out a low chuckle and shrugged his broad shoulders. "Did you assume I would be affected by watching you slaughter my men?" He spat at the ground and pressed the knife tight to the girl's throat. A few blots of ruby red were starting to appear against her pale skin. "I would cut the attitude, girl. If I were you."

"Let her go, and i'll consider letting you live." She snapped, yanking the sword from the man's still chest and starting forward. "If you choose to fight, I will kill you, in the most painful way I can think of."

"You're just a dog with more bark than bite right now, aren't you Lightning?" He wheezed, petting Vanille's hair like the animal he was calling her.

"Take your hands off Vanille before I cut them off."

"Ah ah, not a step further." He barked, pulling the girl in front of him and waving the knife around in what Lightning figured was supposed to be a threatening manner.

She knew he would be easy to take down, and it would take her seconds to do it, but she stopped and stood there, scowling at him. Never be too confident, she reminded herself. Just because the fat moron looked like he would be an easy kill, didn't mean it really would be simple. And one wrong step or misjudgement, and Vanille's throat would cease to exist. Oridinarily risks were some of her favorite things, but that was when Vanille wasn't involved. Perhaps it was a disadvantage, but it was small if it was.

"What do you want?"

"Drop the blade and c'mere."

"Don't listen to him, Light-"

The man huffed and clamped a large hand across Vanille's mouth, frowning. "You keep your little mouth shut.. Well? Drop the damn sword!"

Lightning shrugged and slammed her sword into the face of a dead man at her left. A sickening crunch sounded as it destroyed bone and crushed the brain still intact. She remained unphased by it as she looked back up. "Anything else your _highness_?"

"Cut the attitude." He replied, and she noticed his grip tighten on the knife as she walked towards him unarmed. "See how things work better this way?"

"Oh so very much." She replied sarcastically, eyes rolled. "I'm giving you such a fair deal here. Just take your filthy hands off her, and you can go home alive. But you're so stubborn i'll have to ship you back in a body bag."

He snorted, and began a snarky response to her comment, but whatever it had been was forgotten as he let out a holler of pain and drew his hand away from Vanille's mouth. "Little bitch bit me!"

"Get down, Vanille!" Lightning shouted upon instant reaction, drawing two knives from her sleeves.

She instinctively hit the ground, arms over her head, and hid her face from view, as Lightning whipped the blades towards the man. They hurtled through the air, whizzing over her head, and lodged themselves into his chest and throat before he had much of a chance to defend himself. He dropped his own knife, and then sank to the ground, dead before he hit it.

Vanille carefully moved her arms away from her head and got to her feet and just stared. She was surrounded by dead bodies, and the blood had stained her clothes and skin. She didn't even seem aware that her throat was trickling small streams of blood.

"Vanille.." Lightning muttered, stepping towards her. "It's okay now."

She looked up from the ground at her and stared again, for a moment or two. Then her lower lip trembled, and she sucked in a breath of air, and raced towards her. She nearly leapt from the ground when she was within a smaller distance from her, and threw her arms so tightly around her neck she nearly choked her at contact.

Lightning put both arms around her and held her close, for only a moment, before she moved her back to cup her cheek and look her over. She fished a cloth from her pocket and tied it firmly around her neck. Finally, she tilted her head up and raised a brow. "Are you okay?"

Vanille raised her hand to feel the cloth, and caught her gaze briefly, before she looked down at her side instead. "I'm fine."

That was the biggest lie she could tell, and they both knew it. Nothing was fine.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey c: Sorry this one took a while to get done/put up.. I got sick this weekend. It sucks. Makes it hard to concentrate. But i've got medicines~  
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**Anyways~ This chapter is longer.. tu gusta? and I stopped it before anything steamy, so I can make you wait til next chapter. hur. I know you guys are not gonna gusta that one. heh :x **

**Enjoy!**

**~ Matty**

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><p>The world had not been fine in many years. The last war had torn everything they knew apart. Fires burnt homes to the ground, and forests to ash. Blood stained the grass, clothes, skin, everything it could touch. Death marred the minds of children, and ripped their innocence out of their chests.<p>

The youth were forced to fight, shipped off into the midst of the war, and few returned. Those that did were incapable of coping with the similarities between war and home. Most became rebels and bandits.

The bandits raped and murdered innocent women and children, often taking a few of their victims away from their homes, kidnapping them for 'amusement' on the road. They robbed graves, and disrespected the dead, even of their own ex-comrades with no hesitation. They grew in numbers from just soldiers to the dirty thieves and scum from the sewers that were looking for a reason to come crawling out.

They were becoming more and more violent as the authorities began to try and take them down, and with the increase in violence, things were getting reckless.

For a while it had been Lightning and a few of her allies who had chased the rebels back, slaughtering them carelssly as they had done to the innocent.

In some of the western hemisphere, the war lingered. And a few of the ally went over to fight, to put a permanent end to it.

Lightning herself, had volunteered to go across and fight, but she was forced to withdraw from the forces, for a more important duty. One that had been thrust into her hands, that she had tried to refuse, and back away from, but was unable to escape from.

Fang had pulled her aside from the group of them at dinner, and led her outside, away from the festivities. For a few minutes they'd just sat there, avoiding each other's gaze, looking round at the night sky, and the woods along the sides of the house.

_ "I need you to watch Vanille." She said, shrugging thick locks of brunette over her shoulder. "I'm going over to fight, and I want you to stick back here and take care of her."_

_ "Excuse me?" Lightning snorted, shaking her head. "There is no way i'm going to sit back here, while the lot of you go to fight. It's stupid. Vanille can take care of herself, Vanille doesn't need a babysitter, Vanille-"_

_ "Loves you." Fang snapped, narrowing her eyes, her lips curling into a snarl. _

_ "She loves you too!"_

_ "Exactly!" she yelled, her hands curled into fists at her sides. She spat at the ground and stomped it with her boot. "It's not fair to her to have to worry about the both of us. It's not fair that she could lose the two of us. She doesn't deserve that."_

_ "Oh yeah, and why the hell should I be the one staying back?"_

_ Fang had lost her temper at that point, and fisted the front of Lightning's shirt, growling low in her face. "If you're going to go around kissing her, holding her hand and spouting all that bullshit about caring about her-"_

_ "It's not bullshit! And get your fucking hands off me." She responded, shoving her back. "I don't kid around. Not about a damn thing, especially her, so how dare you claim that I do!"_

_ "Prove it then! If you care about her, stay back and take care of her, make sure she's ok! The war is done here, but it's not done there, and as far as some people see it, it's not even done here! You know more than anyone that those dirty sacks of shit won't hesitate to hurt anyone. If you leave her here, and she gets hurt, her blood is on your hands. I'm sure you've got enough of that, don't you Lightning?"_

_ "Fuck you. You act like you know me when you hardly do, Fang. I put up with you because Vanille adores you. That's it. You can expect me to be civil, but don't expect me to put up with your bullshit when you act like this."_

_ "You're so god damn selfish!" She shouted, glaring off to the side. "Will you please look at her and tell me you're fine with leaving? Look at her. But just one other thing. If you can look at her, and still be fine with leaving her behind, I want you to end it with her. I don't plan on letting you walk off and make her wait here for someone who might not come back to her."_

_ "Who are you, her mother?"_

_ "I might as well be. She's like my baby sister, thank you. I've taken care of her up til you came along. I'm still gonna look out for her even if she has someone else to do it. She doesn't deserve to be hurt. So look. I'm just trying to be proper here, and get you to understand just how damn important she is to me, and how she should be to you too, since you're saying you honestly feel those things for her. If she matters so much to you, stop being such a prude, and you'll know what i'm saying is logical, it's the right thing to do. I want you to stay back with her, so she's happy, and so she's safe. That's it. Someone has to keep her safe. I think that's a much more important job than going over there."_

_ "Why can't you stay here then? Why don't you stay and i'll go?"_

_ "Because! Because it's easier to let go of a close friend, then it is to watch someone you love just walk off, knowing they could die. I've left her plenty of times before. She can handle it one more time. She'll need you.. and it pisses me off to know that, but it's true."_

_ Lightning frowned and looked back at the front door, crossing her arms over her chest, fiddling with her gloves. "I'll do it." She murmered, almost not wnating the other to hear. She wasn't even sure she did accept it. But she had heard._

_ "You will?" Even Fang sounded shocked at her words, and Lightning knew it was too late to take them back. "Good... now let's go back inside before Vanille thinks one of us has killed the other."_

_ "Tch. Most of the time when we talk, she's close to being right in her thoughts." Lightning replied curtly, before she turned and headed back inside._

Fang had been the one to tell Vanille about their friends, and herself, leaving to fight. She was also the one to take the longest packing and hugging her goodbye.

Vanille had cried for hours after they left, her face buried in her pillows, or Lightning's lap when she sat by her to pat her back. She would lay her head against her legs and look up at her with red, puffy and watery eyes, and ask her hundreds of questions about fighting, about the dangers, and Lightning lied about most of it. She sugarcoated as much of it as she could. It was bad, she knew, but Vanille didn't need to know the truth about it. She didn't need to know the risks, the chances that any of their friends would be back, or the same. It was better for her to remain ignorant.

Ignorance didn't last long enough. It never did. It was far from blissful, like the sayings always went. And as much as Lightning had tried to keep her safe, she couldn't protect her emotional stability. And that, as they had always known, was her most fragile quality.

It had been over a year since the others had gone over, and some had begun to return as Winter hit. When Vanille had learned of their return, she had rushed out to meet Fang, and was greeted with nothing but the cold loneliness.

Fang was dead.

It had been close to two years since then, and it had taken this long to get Vanille to stop crying from the moment she woke up til she fell asleep. Sometimes Lightning wanted to be angry with Fang for going, and for dying. She couldn't help Vanille. It was trying all of her patience, and she didn't want to get mad at her for mourning. People were not her forte, and Fang knew that. But she would continue to try despite that. She had to.

She sighed out heavily and slid her fingers through her hair as Vanille turned her head to rest it against her chest. "How are you really? You don't have to lie to me. It certainly doesn't make me feel better if that's your concern."

"I'm scared, I feel sick.. all I can smell is.. fire.. blood.. All I can see is the same. I can't get it to go away. I scrub and scrub and it's still there." Vanille muffled. "It won't go away!"

"Let's go clean you up then." Lightning said, pulling her up off her feet and into her arms, bridal style. "Don't get so worked up.. we'll wash the blood off."

"It won't work.. it's always gonna be there, the blood.. that's all there is now! Just blood everywhere!" she cried, ducking her head down and laying it against her shoulder to watch the scenery pass by.

"Hush." Lightning replied, placing her fingers against her lips, quieting her down as she walked down through the woods and away from the corpses and pools of blood. "You'll see. It'll be alright.."

She carried the younger woman down a winding trail, and off to the right when it branched off to several directions. They remained silent as she walked, accompanied only by the sounds of her feet trodding over dry leaves and twigs, and the steady breathing from Vanille. She didn't bother to try and keep conversation up. She just let Vanille be with her thoughts, and focused on her own.

Finally she came to the clearing, where a large, crystal clear lake flowed. The trees grouped together all around it, almost as if to keep it secret from anyone who didn't know it was there. There was a small dock on the other side, where the people in the towns nearby may have once fished, and a rope swing was tied tight to a strong oak just to the side. She settled Vanille down on the bank and sank onto her knees in front of her. "It's going to be alright, Vanille. I'll make this better for you... You just have to trust me. Can you do that?" she asked, brow raised.

"Can you fix everything else?" She mumbled feebly, slumping low. "I'm sorry.. I just.. i-it's just.."

Lightning frowned and pulled her gloves off and slid her bare fingers underneath the younger's chin. "Don't.. don't be sorry. I honestly wish I could make it all go away. And have you smile again. I can't take the burden from your shoulders, or the pain you feel from losing her. I can't do much to fix that. And no, I can't fix everything. I can do nothing about your past. But I promise i'll give you a better future."

"I don't know what i'm doing half the time anymore, Lightning. I can't feel anything anymore. I forget how to be happy.. I don't want to be numb, not with you.. but I can't help it..I think i'm going crazy.. I think I'm-"

Lightning raised her chin and brought her forehead in to rest against hers, gliding her fingers over her lips to hush her again. "Shh." she whispered, hot air against her skin. "Don't think. Just do."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey everyone! I'm really really sorry this has taken so long.. so much came up, I lost my muse, got sick, lost my muse again.. excuses excuses.. anyways, i'm trying to get fanfics going again, and even though i'm not sure what this cluster of clusteriness is anymore, i'm going to keep at it. sorry again for taking so long!**

**- Matty**

She let out a breath of hot air, that rolled across Vanille's cheek, and slowly caught her lips, bringing her into a gentle kiss, while her free hand reached out then, and gently grabbed a handful of her shirt, raising it up a few inches at a time.

Vanille said nothing, shutting her eyes as they kissed, and sucking in her stomach when a cool wind found her bare skin.

The kiss ended briefly as the material slid up over her head and was set beside them, but she returned to Lightning's mouth with no hesitation. Her arms hooked around her neck, and she absently tangled her fingers in her hair, gripping hard, not enough to be noticed by the older woman however.

Lightning drew in a sharp breath, her eyes heavily lidded, and placed her palm flat against the other's stomach, skin warm to her cool fingers' touch. Her fingers slid, down from her stomach to her naval, and then to her sultry waist. She dipped them along each curve of her body, and finally let them come to a stop along her inner thighs.

Within moments there lay a pile of clothes at the base of the tree, and Vanille could feel the cool of the grass against her backside as she was pressed down into the flush green blades.

Lightning's mouth had begun a slow travel down from her lips, and had only just passed her breasts before the younger drew away. Her breath was coming out in tiny pants, and she felt heat throughout every vein of her body.

Lightning's lips quivered slightly as they twisted into a small grin, and a thin brow raised at the girl. "Why so shy all of a sudden?" she asked, pinning her down to ravage her body with her mouth at her own pleasure. "It's just you and me, Vanille." she whispered against her thigh. As long strands of hair danced across creamy skin at the slightest movement of her head, it kept Vanille on edge, unable to restrain herself and the noises that climbed out from her throat.

At last, Vanille found her voice, as her hands swept down Lightning's back and fingers dug into her shirt. "You're slightly overdressed for a swim."

"Why don't you fix that, hm?"

Vanille sat up with the other woman and mimicked her actions from before, slowly raising the shirt from her body and setting it aside. Every move she made was careful, concentrated. When her fingers slipped and bumped against her partner's skin as they grasped the underwear at her thighs, she looked up for guidance, comfirmation, like a young pup learning from its mother the ways of the world around it.

She was swept up off of the ground then, as the last material hiding away the elder's body fell to her ankles, and was carried down the bank to the waters edge.

As Lightning waded out into the water, Vanille slid her fingers through her hair, and admired her body before the water stole her view away.

"You're beautiful.." she murmered offhand, her fingers moving to her cheek, tracing the soft bones there and then her jaw to her lips.

"Shh." Lightning said, dipping her backwards so her hair fell into the lake and soaked through to her skull. She untied the cloth round her throat and soaked it in the water, and as Vanille rose back up, she brought it to her skin and began to clean the dried red from it with gentle sweeps. "See? I told you it would be okay.."

Vanille closed her eyes as the rag went over her skin, cleaning it of the blood, and kept them that way even after she no longer felt it and the other spoke. "You think this place will ever be like it was? Do you think the world will ever be like before?" She sighed lightly, letting the cool breeze chill her skin. "This place was probably so nice before, and full of children and families, and people fishing on lazy sunday mornings.. it can go back to that, can't it?"

Lightning found herself nuzzling into the woman's neck, breathing her in, unsure of how to answer, like she often was when Vanille asked her things like that. "I don't know.." she said, frowning. "I don't see things the way you do, I never did, and I don't think I ever could.. maybe things can go back to the way they were, but after so much destruction.." she paused, her fingers trailing downwards towards the younger's backside. She fought her habit of pessimism, and pressed a chaste kiss to her jaw. ".. Yes, i'm sure it can return to how it was before.. it might take a while, but people have overcome worse then this."

"I wish you could see things how I do, Lightning.. I want you to see how wonderful things can be sometimes." Vanille said between gasps for air and light noises of pleasure. "One day I hope you can, i'd do anything to make it possible."

"I have you, silly girl. I believe that's enough beautiful for me."


End file.
